The narrative surrounding Anthony Davis both prior to and at the time of being traded to the Los Angeles Lakers was that he couldn’t get it done in the playoffs. In seven seasons with the New Orleans Pelicans, Davis reached the postseason just twice and made it out of the first round only once.
However, that narrative was completely flipped on its head during the 2020 playoffs. Davis was absolutely dominant during the Lakers championship run. He averaged 27.7 points and 9.7 rebounds, to go along with 57.1% shooting from the field, 38.3% behind the arc and 83.2% from at the free throw line.
After winning it all, Davis was clearly emotional, as he had been one of the best players in the league for nearly eight season before reaching the pinnacle. With the new season underway, Davis is not satisfied winning just one championship.
He told Rachel Nichols of ESPN that the motivation is to continue winning titles:
“When we won, obviously I was a meme, crying and things like that, but that was one of the best feelings in the world. I want to have that feeling again and a couple more times. I don’t want to be a one-stop shop, one-time fame. I want multiple. I think that’s the drive behind this season.”
While Davis has been particularly critical of himself to begin the 2020-21 season, it’s only out of motivation to want to reach the top of the NBA world again. L.A. absolutely has the tools to do it, but they’ll need to go through some excellent teams to get it done for the second consecutive year.
Davis proud of Lakers resiliency on seven-game road trip
The Lakers finally were back at home after playing seven consecutive games on the road, going 5-2 in that stretch and losing back-to-back games. Davis was proud of the group for showing strength and resilience during their time away from home.
“We’re a team that’s going to fight. We’re a resilient team, being down in Philly and coming back fighting. We’re going to get every team’s best shot,” he said.
“I think we showed our resiliency this trip and also showed how together we are. We’re still learning each other, not having a lot of practice time and short offseason, shortened training camp.”
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